Eric, i am a native of S. Central Texas, And it is now a powder keg. There is vast amounts of dry needle grass, oily juniper and ceder trees, and vast amounts of thick mesquite and extremely dry underbrush.

[...] Over 3.5 million acres — an area larger than the entire state of Connecticut — have been scorched since December. According to the Texas Forest Service, “Six of the 10 largest wildfires in Texas history occurred in 2011.” [...]

uhh.. HELLO??? Wasn’t it Perry and his republicon ilk who slashed school funding, jobs and aid to the infirm and poor in favor of leaving billions in the rainy day fund for use in mitigating natural disaster damage? Any repugs or Perry calling to release those funds for this “epoch” disaster? THE SILENCE IS DEAFENING!

Eric, is it too early to pin a cause on most of these wildfires? We know the historic drought is a major contributor to these fires. But someone — or something — has to light the fuse. Are these fires started by people (intentionally or not) or by nature (lightning)? Any thoughts?

A number of these fires are zero contained right now. It’s a bit early to be doing forensics. With so many fires over such a wide area the answer will probably turn out to be all of the above. One thing for sure with so much dry tinder across the state anyone looking for some attention can unfortuanately get it all to easily right now if you know what I mean.

[...] Over 3.5 million acres — an area larger than the entire state of Connecticut — have been scorched since December. According to the Texas Forest Service, “Six of the 10 largest wildfires in Texas history occurred in 2011.” [...]